1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a utensil for facilitating the opening and removal of meat from crab legs or other types of shellfish, and particularly to a utensil that is useful in severing the shell of a shellfish, digging meat out of an opened shellfish if the meat has not been fully exposed by the severing operation, and for cutting knuckle segments or other areas of the shell which are normally difficult to crack and open, thus exposing the meat for extraction. The utensil also has utility for severing a shrimp shell along the alimentary canal line so that the canal may thereafter be quickly and easily be removed from the shrimp body.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Crustaceans such as shrimps and crabs are frequently prepared for eating by boiling the shellfish in water and then serving the cooked products still in the shell. The shell must be removed or broken away from the meat before the meat can readily be consumed. Boiling or broiling of a crustacean such as a crab typically does not change the characteristics of the shell to an extent that it can be readily removed from the meat.
It has been common practice for many years to use a bifurcated, pivoted handle, nutcracker-type of instrument to crack the shells of crab legs or other types of shellfish in order to facilitate removal of the shellfish meat from the protective shell. These utensils have found wide-spread acceptance for opening of shellfish shells, primarily because there has been no reasonable alternative utensil. However, the nutcracker-type utensils are relatively expensive and present restaurants with a cost problem because of the relatively high percentage of loss that is experienced as a result of customer pilferage. Furthermore, these utensils are not particularly useful in the case of shells that are somewhat soft, and mere cracking of the shell often does not allow a person to then easily remove meat from the cracked shell.
Many persons experiencing frustration with the inadequacy of nutcracker-type utensils for opening crab leg shells, particularly in circumstances where the shell is somewhat soft but of tough characteristics, have resorted to the use of a common table fork in an effort sever the shell. One of the tines of the fork is inserted under the shell and the person then lifts up on the fork handle in an effort to tear the shell body. Although this may accomplish the intended result in certain instances, many times such misuse of the fork simply results in bending of the fork tine, thus again causing the restaurant significant losses because of cost of replacing bent forks.